Carla Abellana recounts how love story with Dr. Reginald Santos began

Carla Abellana looked back on how her love story with husband Dr. Reginald Santos began.

During her guesting in “Fast Talk With Boy Abunda” on Wednesday, the actress said Reginald was not only her a schoolmate at OB Montessori in San Juan, he was also her first boyfriend.

“Three batches higher po siya sa akin. So, first year ako and he was in fourth year high school,” she said.

“So, yes, first boyfriend, first love,” Carla said.

“Nagtagal po kami ng more or less two years at that time. Na-break po kami because he had to really focus on his studies. Kasi, of course, he was serious about med school,” she said.

Carla admitted their breakup hurt her because she was “very young” at that time.

“Sobrang hirap po nun sa akin," she said. "Umiyak ako siyempre kasi hindi naman ganoon ka-broad ang pag-iisip ko that time. A break-up is a break-up. So, syempre, I was hurt po,” she admitted.

She clarified it wasn't a bad breakup and there was no bad blood between them.

“Okay naman. May reason po yan si God. But, it wasn't a bad breakup. It's not like, galit po kami sa isa't isa or anything. So maayos naman po. We left, we parted ways in good terms,” she said.

“Disente po. Maayos po. At saka, wala pong bad blood. Walang tampuhan. Walang galit sa isa’t-isa. Maayos naman po,” Carla said. 

But the two did not remain friends. In fact, Carla and Reginald’s communication stopped after they broke up.

“Wala pong reunions. Hindi po kami nagkita or anything. Walang kamustahan. Walang anything na ganoon,” Carla said.

After her divorce from Tom Rodriguez, during her season of vulnerability, Reginald reached out to her.

“Siguro mga 2022 or 2023 na Christmas. Out of the blue, nag-greet lang siya through private message sa social media ng 'Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays.' Of course I greeted him back,” Carla narrated.  

There was nothing of it, Carla said, adding it took another month for them to continue talking again.

“But it’s not like we continued talking na right away. Siguro it took about a month pa. Wala naman akong reaksyon. Hindi naman na parang ay why is he reaching out of the blue. Wala namang gano,” she recalled. 

“Naano lang ako na, 'it’s you'! Hello again. It’s been so long. I didn’t think of it in any other way.”

After exchanging messages on social media, they realized they still had each other's numbers and proceeded to keep in touch there.

“Doon na kami nag-message. Nag-messaging na po kami directly to each other,” Carla said.According to Carla, it also took awhile before she realized she still had feelings for him. 

Despite their exchanges, it took Carla a few more months to realize that she still had feelings for Reginald. 

“At that time, honestly, I was very vulnerable. May wall pa ako. Talagang nagtayo ako ng wall. I was very doubtful of people,” the actress said.

“Medyo mahirap pa ako mag-trust sa paligid. I didn’t welcome men or suitors or date or anything back then. Talagang medyo may guard, may wall pa ako. So hindi po siya right away at hindi siya mabilis,” she added. 

It also took Carla a while to accept Reginald’s invitation for a date. 

“It took months bago ako naging ready na lumabas on a date,” she said, adding "Medyo nakailang attempts siya."

But Reginald remained patient and waited for her to decide. 

“Hindi siya yung type na namilit. He wasn’t that persistent. Parang sa kaniya, depende sayo kung kelan ka ready. Any time you are ready. Hindi siya namilit, he let me decide. So it took a while,” Carla recalled.

One thing led to another until the two tied the knot on December 27, 2025.

In her vows, Carla called him her “first and last” love. — Jade Veronique Yap/LA, GMA Integrated News